Back in 2013, it was announced that actor Jason Segel would play the late writer David Foster Wallace in The End of the Tour. Recently, Segel (pictured, via) made an appearance at a BookCon panel and discussed his preparations for this role.
According to Vulture.com, Segel read the Consider the Lobster short story collection, the A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again essay book, and the Infinite Jest novel. He also listened to past interview recordings and the 2005 Kenyon College commencement address.
After all of this research, Segel drew this conclusion: “What separates an author and mind like David Foster Wallace is he has the ability to articulate. A lot of people are sitting there feeling it, feeling confused about why they don’t feel satisfied. And David Foster Wallace said, ‘Maybe it’s this. Maybe that’s why.'” The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. A limited release date has been scheduled for July 31st.